D-Day in the Pacific: The Battle of Saipan

6. The 4th Marine Division Lands

c h a p t e r s i x the 4th marine division lands Each marine confronted his private thoughts and fears as he approached the beach. Some were ill from seasickness while others just prayed quietly. Others wondered if they were ready for the task ahead: “Can we do this? Am I going to live through it? Suppose I get my balls shot off? Am I going to piss in my pants going over the side? Do I look as scared as I feel? What about the other guys? Are they as scared as I am? They don’t look it.”1 Fortunately, the 4th Division’s landing on Blue and Yellow beaches was a little different than it had been for the 2nd Division. The regiments of the 4th Division hit the correct beaches and did not suffer the crowding that the 2nd Division had. Lieutenant Colonels John J. Cosgrove and Edward J. Dillon led the 23rd Marines onto Blue 1 and Blue 2, while the 25th Marines, under Lieutenant Colonels Lewis C. Hudson and Hollis U. Mustain, landed on Yellow 1 and 2.2 Blue 1, on the northern end of the 23rd Marines’ beaches, lined up almost directly with the little town of Charan Kanoa. On Blue 2 and Yellow 1, in the middle of the southern beaches, most of the LVTs were able to ramble ashore, dropping marines between one hundred and seven hundred yards inland. On Yellow 2, at the southern end of the 25th Marines, heavy Japanese fire forced many marines out of their landing vehicles in shallow water where they had to race for shore and cover. Needless to say, the difficulty of running through water slowed the marine advance and provided ready targets for Japanese gunners . Of all the landing beaches used by the 4th Division, Yellow 2 was the the 4th marine division lands 75 most difficult, with “heavy resistance” continuing throughout the morning. According to American intelligence reports: “As LVTs moved inland from Yellow Two enemy artillery fired on them and by 1052, the 4th Division was receiving minor enemy counter-attacks on its right flank.”3 The army’s 708th Amphibian Tank Battalion led the way for the 4th Marine Division. The 534th and 773rd Amtrac Battalions (U.S. Army) then brought the marines to the beach on three hundred landing vehicles. These amtracs had better luck hitting their targeted beach than those leading the 2nd Marine Division, but they too came under withering mortar and artillery attack. Nevertheless, they delivered four thousand marines from the 4th Division in approximately twenty minutes.4 Platoon leader Earl Guy of Montgomery, Alabama, was a member of the 10th Amphibian Tractor Battalion, part of the 4th Marine Division . Like other amtracs, Guy’s vehicle had a three-man crew and carried three machine guns. The amtracs moved through the water at only five or six miles per hour and provided ready targets for the Japanese gunners. Figure 6. U.S. marine first assault wave hits Saipan beach on D-Day; courtesy of Private Rod Sandburg (USMC). 76 d-day in the pacific After dropping the marines on the beach, the amtracs would pick up the wounded, return to the navy ships, and load more troops for another run at the island. At night the amtracs would sit on the reef, guns pointed toward the ocean, watching for an enemy attack from the rear. As Guy observed, “in the pitch black darkness, having the ocean water slapping into the sides of the tractor, being without sleep for a possible 24 hours or more, it was easy to think you could see rubber boats in the darkness and the enemy trying to quietly reach the side of the tractor and pitch in grenades to eliminate the crew.”5 Also serving with the 10th Amphibian Tractor Battalion was amtrac driver R. P. Willson, who had been involved in the landing on Roi-Namur, the first landing of the 4th Division. At Saipan the amtrac attack waves left their larger ships in five-minute intervals. Willson followed the amphibious tanks onto Blue Beach 2. Although he was supposed to look for a specific spot, like other drivers he basically looked for any open ground on the beach after he crossed the reef. He saw amphibious tanks on the beach and noticed an apparent vacant area where he could unload on the port...